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The number of Americans filing for bankruptcy is rising sharply, proving that recent legal reforms are not working, according to a recent report.

“The bankruptcy rates are back on the wrong track despite a conscious legislative effort,” according to the report, from the Washington, DC-based Center for American Progress.

“The reform has been a failure,” said Christian E. Weller, one of the authors of the report that examines the effects of the Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. “The law has made the bankruptcy process more punitive and hurt people. And it has not stopped people from filing for bankruptcy.”

The study compared the number of filings in the fourth quarter of 2007 with the first quarter of 2006, which was just after the reform went into effect.

The bankruptcy rate is now 2.7 filings per 100,000, compared with 1.5 per 100,000 people in the first three months of 2006.

“The severe financial squeeze faced by America’s families is evident in stagnant income growth amid mounting job losses and the spiraling costs of gas, energy, food and healthcare amid record family debt levels,” the report states.

Passed with the support of the banking industry, bankruptcy reform was designed to reduce credit-card abuse by making it more difficult to wipe out a debtor’s bills. The act requires someone seeking bankruptcy protection to pay back a higher percentage of their debt than under the previous law.

A spokesman for the American Bankers Association, which was one of the groups backing the law, disputes the study.

“We never said the filings would necessarily go down,” said the ABA’s Peter Garuccio. “We merely wanted to stop abuses of the system.”

Garuccio argues that it is too soon to say if the reform is a success, but he believes abuses have been curbed.

Weller said he found no evidence of abuse – medical emergencies and unemployment are why people generally seek bankruptcy protection, he said.

Although critics and proponents of the reform debate the issue, most observers agree the bankruptcy rate will head north.

“The numbers are clearly going up,” said Sam Giordano, of the American Bankruptcy Institute, whose organization is neutral in the bankruptcy reform debate.

He says “general economic conditions” are the most important factor in predicting bankruptcy filings.